Page 38 of The Princess and Her Mercenary

Chapter Twenty

Ndari’s fears were realized the next night as they entered the arena and she discovered that, much to her horror, she was expected to stand, not sit, because there were no chairs. She was escorted to Eoin, directly next to the cage and well within the spray radius. She was about to turn to Eoin and ask for a new place to stand, like outside, or maybe in the fancy hotel room Keane had rented them for the night, when she saw Keane being ushered through a side door and led towards the cage.

It suddenly occurred to her that he could actually be hurt doing something like this. He seemed like such a capable and confident man, the thought of him losing or getting hurt seemed absurd. She eyed him, watching for nerves, watching to see if he gave any indication that he didn't want to be part of this fight.

Keane looked happy as a clam, grinning from ear to ear as he surveyed the huge crowd that was shouting, stomping their feet and screaming for his blood. It was clear that the man was in his element. Any concerns that Ndari had for him fled, he had this in the bag.

Keane stopped inside the cage, walking from end to end punching the air. The booing crowd seemed to fuel his bloodlust. She noticed that although he wasn't wearing any gloves, his fists were taped. She didn't know why. She’d never really had anything to do with fighting before except to watch the movie Fight Club. Maybe the tape stopped his knuckles from cracking against his opponent’s forehead. She would have to remember to ask after the fight.

A huge roar went up in the crowd and she twisted around to see what everyone was screaming at. A huge mountain of a man was being escorted through the throng of people. This guy was so big he made Keane look like a toddler and she hadn’t thought that was possible. Keane was a big man. But this guy, he was bigger.

"So, you like your opponents to be evenly matched then?" she asked Eoin sarcastically.

He shrugged, unconcerned. "Makes no difference to me," he said, his eyes on the cage. "They're all willing. And the bigger the man – "

"Yeah, yeah, the harder they fall, right?" This guy really was a Bond Villain. So cliché.

Eoin chuckled. "No, the bigger the man, the bigger the payout at the end of the fight. For some reason we always get more bets on the big ones."

Oh, she forgot about the betting! "Where do I place my bet?"

Eoin laughed. "You intend to place a bet? I assume on your man?"

"Of course," she said briskly. She opened her little purse and pulled a roll of bills out. "This should be about $10,000. I want double or nothing on Keane."

His eyes bulged a little, but he took the bundle of bills from her and tucked them into his back pocket. "Double or nothing," he said under his breath, shaking his head.

A big bald guy with a tattoo of a woman across his shoulder came over and said something to Eoin that she couldn’t hear over the cacophony of noise filling the warehouse. Eoin nodded his head and flicked a hand toward the cage. She took this to mean the fight was about to start. She eagerly turned her eyes to where Keane was watching her carefully, a warm glow in his eyes. She grinned, blew him a kiss and winked.

She held her hands up to her mouth and shouted, "I have money riding on you! You better win this!"

He bowed and gave a fancy little wave of his hand. "Whatever my Princess commands."

Before they could say anything more, before she could wish him luck or good fight or whatever it was that a person said to a fighter, the bell rang. And just like that the fight began.

10 seconds later the fight ended. Keane was standing over his victim shaking his head. He looked over at Eoin in disgust, his eyes narrowed. Ndari could read his mind, he wanted someone better than this, he wanted a fighter worthy of his attention.

Eoin looked stunned, then he looked pleased, then he looked more pleased. Ndari didn't really like the shrewd look in his eyes. As though he was counting dollars in his head and thinking about a future filled with more dollars. Oh, hell no, she needed to disabuse him of the notion that he had found himself a new permanent fighter. She was about to say so, when Keane shoved the door of the cage open and strode to where she was standing. He’d barely broken a sweat during the so-called fight. He gathered her against him and kissed her deeply. She went up on her toes and kissed him back.

"Let's get the fuck got here,” he said. “Want to have you to myself." He grabbed her hand and tugged her away from Eoin.

"Wait!" she yelled, yanking on her hand. "My money! I won. Double or nothing. I want my money."

She wheeled around and stuck her hand out towards Eoin. He chuckled and jerked his head at a man who strode over to them. "20 large for the lady." He nodded toward Ndari. The guy’s eyes bulged in surprise as he looked at her. She liked to think it was her beauty that made him pause, but she suspected it was a large pile of cash he was counting out for her.

She smiled and took the fistful of bills from the man, shoving them in her purse. "Nice doing business with you," she said to Eoin and reached out to shake his hand.

Eoin give a full-throated laugh and shook her hand, then leaned in to kiss her cheek. A split-second later Keane was shoving Eoin away from her with a growl.

Eoin threw his hands up in surrender and shook his head. "She's all yours, man. I wish it was otherwise, but I understand. You find a good woman, you keep her. I'll see you around."

Without a goodbye, Keane didn't bother, Keane took her arm and strode to the nearest exit. His man held the door open for them as they left the warehouse and wandered out into the cool Dublin night. Keane didn't say much as they travelled back to the hotel, but she could feel the heat coming off him. Mostly because he still hadn't bothered putting a shirt on and she was leaning against his bare chest. Her ear was pressed over his heart where she could hear the thump, thump, thump of his aliveness.

When they arrived, he helped her out of the vehicle and into the hotel. Keane ignored the pointed look the concierge gave him, frowning at his bare chest, and pulled her into the elevator. The second the door closed behind them and they were finally alone he pressed his lips to hers pushing her back against the mirrored wall. In perfect sync with him, Ndari's arms were winding around his neck.

He tugged at her clothes, uncaring of who might see them. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her up into his arms and stepped off the elevator when it arrived on their floor. Her skirt rolled up her thighs as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. He fumbled with the door and finally managed to open it, Ndari still in his arms.

"Fuck me, Linton. Fuck me right now!" she panted into his ear.

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